Pride: Sin or Virtue?
by theIvoryQuill
Summary: The SG-1 team travel to the planet Aelte to borrow Goa'uld defence technology. Little do they know, they are entering a world of revolution. Retrieving the technology may not be as easy as they expect.. toggled around a little, ch 3 is new.
1. Introduction

"I told you before, I am innocent."

Arlen crossed her arms and slouched into the seat. The interrogation had just started, and already her patience was thin.

It was the beginning of a Revolution on their planet Aelte. Everyone was on edge, and the assassination of Emperor Lex had been the icing on the cake.

Revolution was the way of the people. They rebel, and there's nothing even the High Council can do about it except wait it out, catching whoever they could along the way.

_To make the people think they're doing something, _added Arlen silently.

"What evidence do you have?" spat the man dressed in black, on the other side of the room. Arlen narrowed her eyes.

"Let's see. On the night of the killings, I was with my husband, Reylon. Of course, you can't ask him, because you executed him last night. Sorry, can't help you," she snapped. She let her thick brown hair cover her teary eyes, and made a fist with one hand under the table.

A whip cracked, sending the young woman to the floor. The questioner snarled in her ear.

"How would you prefer a death without trial? Because that's what I'll be glad to give you if you don't shut up and behave."

* * *

Councillor Belkhov stacked papers at her desk.

Another suspect was interrogated today. She had heard Anton's whip from her chamber.

For all Belkhov knew, the suspect probably deserved it, but that whip was against Imperial policy. He knew that. One of these days, he's going to be caught with it.

"Councillor Belkhov?" A head peeped around a corner. It was her assistant.

"Conr, how many times have I asked you to call me Nael?"

"I'm sorry, Councillor.. Nael. It just sounds wrong."

"Not wrong, just different," reminded Nael, "What do you need me for, Conr?"

"Oh, this came for you," he waved a piece of paper at her, "It's an invitation to the Receiving Ritual this evening. You need to be in the Gate Hall, in three hours. Dress nice!"

"Thankyou, Conr."

* * *

Receiving Rituals happened whenever someone came through the Gateway for the first time. It was like a Welcome Ball to celebrate newcomers. It was a very old tradition, but the Gateway was hardly used, after Aelte was threatened by invasion 100 years ago.

Not that there was much to celebrate at the present time. However, who was anyone to abandon tradition?

Nael managed to dig up a gown from her closet, and brushed the dust off from it. It had been a long time since she had been to such a formal event.

"May I introduce," said an official of some kind, "Senior Commanding Agent Cesra Plath."

The woman opposite her was in full formal uniform, complete with traditional the fighting blade on her hip. It glinted under the chandelier, and Nael's eyes lingered cautiously.

"The blade is only part of the uniform. Tradition only," assured Cesra, to Nael's relief, then continued, "If I needed to kill anyone in the room, I'd prefer to use the particle gun concealed in my skirt." Cesra walked toward the Gateway, and Nael chuckled for a while, but then she hesitated:

"Conr, was she joking?"

"High Councillor Belkhov! So glad you could make it. My name is Professor Sran, I'm, some may say, the brains behind the operation."

_Also the one with all the humility_, thought Nael.

"Pleased to meet you. Do you have any idea why I was called to be at this ritual? I can't say I've been to one of these in a while.."

The professor paused in contemplation, and scratched his moustache. It was obvious he had no clue.

"Well.. I suppose you'd have to ask Her Glory."

"Her Glory?"

"The closest living relative of the Emperor has taken over the position temporarily. Since she hasn't much political knowledge, the High Council is making most of the main decisions. By law, they just need her okay."

"Okay, then," said Nael.

"She was the one that asked for you. She should be on the throne, at the end of the room."

Nael fixed a strand of her fair hair nervously. If not officially, she was about to meet the Empress! Acting Empress, anyway. She hoped she gave a good impression..

* * *

When she approached the throne, it was empty. That was strange. The late Emperor never left his throne, even at events like these (they have a special one made in the Gate Hall for this reason). All that could be seen in the vicinity was a harrassed-looking waiter holding a tray, surrounded by people. One young woman was showing her criticism for the appetisers very loudly. The waiter looked rather scared. Soon, she had scared the rest of the guests away, and had the tray to herself.

She decided to approach the young woman cautiously to see if she knew anything.

"Her Glory? That's me!"


	2. Arrivals

"... Really?" She raised an eyebrow challengingly, and Nael realised how she had come

across.

"Oh, my apologies, your Glory, I didn't however expect the Empress-"

"To be harassing the server-girl, I know. But, I could get used to it. Power is rather neat," said she. She didn't look beyond adolescence.

"High Councillor Nael Belkhov, Your Glory."

There was a look in the Empress's eyes that reflected a young one's reaction to meeting a high-councillor, instead of an Empress'.

"Oh, well. My name is Yamra. The whole title thing's rather extraordinary, however I prefer Yamra. Isn't this a nice turn-out?"

"Yes, Your- Yamra, it certainly is. I actually came here to ask you, what is it that you need me for?"

"High Councillor of.. What is it you said?"

"Inter-planetary affairs."

"Oh, that's you! I expected you to be some old man, to be honest."

_Gee, thanks._

"Well.. Here I am."

"Yes. I need you to welcome our visitors. They've come to borrow our Goa'uld defence technology."

"Your Glory.."

"Yamra."

"The unit storing the technology was hidden by the Emperor. Nobody but he knew its location. Now, it's lost. Didn't you know that?"

"Uhm. Really?"

Nael's panic was rising. Was she hearing what she thought she was hearing? From an Empress?

"What did you think happened to it?! He didn't exactly have time to pass down the secret before he was murdered! What were you thinking, sending them here?!" Nael exploded.

The Empress narrowed her eyes, and put a hand on her hip.

"Excuse me?"

She'd done it again. She had to remind herself that this was acting Empress, and not a silly girl. _Not a silly girl, not a silly girl,_ she repeated.

"Well. Your Glory, what do you propose should be done with the visitors, now that the technology cannot be shared?"

"Well, I thought that maybe, while they were here, they could help us."

"Help us do what? We know nothing about these visitors," enquired Nael, trying to keep politeness.

"Oh, well," said a flustered Empress with a wave of the hand, "We'll find out. That would be your job, wouldn't it?"

"This should have been settled way before this-" Nael was cut off by the sound of a fanfare.

"What's with the fanfare?" whispered Nael. The Empress had already returned to her throne, but was answered by one of her bodyguards:

"Her Glory's idea. She thought it would add class."

_So the dress code wasn't enough?_

Then she saw it. The Gate, working its magic. She had not seen the water-like portal activate in many years, and forgot the wonder it sparked inside of her. Then the water calmed. Four figures strode through the Gate, and stopped in their tracks. The water disappeared, and applause rang from every corner of the hall.

There were three men, and one woman. They were ushered toward the Empress' throne.

"Welcome, travellers!" exclaimed Yamra, with her arms extended. The applause continued.

"Uhm. Are we interrupting something?" murmured what looked like the leader of the four. They all gazed around them at the elaborate decoration, the gowns, the suits. They themselves were only in basic military uniform.

"Don't be silly! This is the celebration of your arrival! Relax, put down your weapons, we mean no harm. The purpose of this evening is to ensure your stay here is off to a good start. Enjoy yourselves," said the Empress with a charming smile.

_Well, she certainly knows how to _pretend _she knows what's going on,_ thought Nael, _That ought to count for something._

"High Councillor Belkhov?" She turned to see one of the four visitors approach her. He had strange pieces of glass in a frame over his eyes, and wavy, brown hair. He was rather pleasant looking.

"Yes, that's me. Welcome to Aelte," greeted Nael.

"Dr. Daniel Jackson. I.. came with the team."

"So I see," she noted, gazing at his apparel.

"I was told to go to you with any questions we may have." He saw her look of dismay, though she tried to hide it.

"Oh, right then. I have to say, I was only told of your coming a few hours ago. I have, however, been filled in by Her Glory."

"Okay. Does this mean I should pose questions to the Empress herself, instead?"

This is where it would get complicated.

"Well, you see, the Empress is a very busy young woman. It would not be the most logical thing to do, considering the most recent turn of events.. Nobody is very sure what exactly will happen at the present time."

"Turn of events?"

"Doctor Daniel Jackson,"

"Daniel."

"Daniel, our planet is not in a time of peace. It was only the previous morning that our Emperor was murdered. A revolution is taking place, and it is quite unfortunate that you and your comrades need to be here to see it," said Nael. Daniel changed his expression to one of curiosity to one of sympathy.

"I'm sorry. You must be still in shock."

"In a way, yes. However, we all saw it coming. It is quite a long story," she added,

"Nevertheless, we will try our best to make you feel comfortable while you are here. By the way, you can put down your weapons, I think you're scaring the other guests."

"Not at the moment, thankyou-very-much. We'd like to keep safe, if that's okay with you" said the leader of the foreigners firmly.

"We came to borrow anti-Goa'uld technology. Know anything about that, Councillor?" His tone was somewhat commanding.

"This is the main problem we are faced with currently. The technology unit was protected by the late Emperor Lex. When he was killed, he had no time to pass on the secret of its location."

"What?!" spat the leader, "What do you mean, it's lost?" He was given a look by Dr. Jackson, and his expression softened.

"Uh, sorry. Just a bit of a shock. Y'know, advanced race, coveted technology, _lost.._"

"It's quite alright. My reaction on learning this was quite similar. May I add, this was around ten minutes ago."

"Oh. So.."

"Would you like some shrimp?" chirped a waitress.


	3. Exchange

The next morning, High Commander Cesra Milcant dressed for an important meeting. All of the acts of rebellion happening at the time meant a lot of military meetings. Inter-provincial alliances needed to be kept, as all they needed at the moment was another war.

Her role as head of the military did not just involve fighting strategies. The job also entailed maintenance of the interaction between different provinces and regions in order to maintain alliances and form new ones. It always seemed ironic to Cesra that the head of the Aeltian Military would also be in charge of peace-keeping affairs, but it was part of a system that had not faltered for hundreds of years, so nobody dared to change it.

The new visitors would be at the meeting, as well as Her Glory the temporary Empress and a representative of the Aeltian High Council. It was in regard to the lost technology that the visitors arrived to borrow, and also the assassination of Emperor Lex.

"Why then, were we called to a planet who knew that this technology had already been lost?" The light-haired female visitor looked up at the table in confusion.

The Empress shrunk a little into her seat. Cesra herself did not have an answer either. It was very foolish of the person who had arranged it. The head of interplanetary affairs, Belkhov, slightly grimaced at Her Glory, then took a deep breath.

"It was only very recently that we had discovered the death of our Emperor. Although we should have notified you as soon as we found out, it was not the only thing on our minds," she reasoned, with a quick glare at the Empress.

"Yes, yes," assured Her Glory, "However, we have our theories on how to retrieve the technology. Although the location was a secret, there cannot be too many places it can be. The Emperor hardly left the city in his last years. Depending on how long ago he concealed the technology, finding it again may not be as difficult as it seems," added the Empress, triumphantly.

"So you're saying it'd be easier for us to stay until the technology is found?" deduced O'Neill, who she had briefly spoken to at the Receiving Ritual. Her Glory nodded.

"Absolutely. In fact, if you are the intelligent, generous race that we know Humans to be, you would perhaps assist us?" O'Neill wore a smug smile. Belkhov looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her expression of both confusion and anger was aimed directly at Her Glory, who averted her gaze. This would end badly.

"This section of the meeting is now over. Human visitors, feel free to exit through the glass doors at the back of the building."

The four visitors stood, and made their way to the doors, where they let themselves out. As soon as the doors clicked shut, Belkhov started to let off some steam.

"What were you thinking, Yamra? Dragging the humans into our internal affairs! You lied about finding the technology. It could take years, even hundreds of years to retrieve, but you lied so they would stay! Intelligent? Generous? I'm surprised you even knew what species they were! Besides, one of them isn't even Human, is he? Aelte is a dangerous place at the moment. Have you no concern for their safety?" she demanded.

"I happen to be Empress at the moment, hence the crown," retorted Her Glory.

"Empress who all of two days knew she even had noble blood! I happen to be representing the High Council, and have done for a lot longer than two days. Do you wish to argue with the body of people who make decisions that control the things you could not live without?"

"Do you wish to argue," sneered the Empress, "with the person who can dismiss you and your little council with a snap of her fingers?"

Belkhov opened her mouth to protest, before she was dismissed with a wave of a hand.

"I didn't think so," whispered Her Glory.

Cesra stood from her seat, hoping to break the tension in the room, which could be cut with a knife.

"There is one advantage to keeping the four visitors here. At least for now, they themselves are protected against the Goa'uld."

"Leaving the planet they are meant to defend helpless, and only opening them up to more danger inside our planet," refuted Belkhov. She was terrible to argue with.

"Okay," she tried again, "Look at it this way, then. Your Glory, you said that the Humans were a helpful, intelligent race-"

"-She made that up-" interjected Belkhov.

"-Could you let me finish? If they are indeed as helpful and intelligent as they seem, they could share their strategies and ideas as to how we should handle what's happening in our own planet. Perhaps they could even share some of their own defence technology with us," Cesra finished, feeling pretty happy with her argument.

"High Commander, we know perfectly well how to address our own problems, and we're perfectly capable of preventing problems like these from arising," droned the Empress.

"Obviously not, since the Emperor Lex is dead," retorted Cesra.

"And someone put her in charge," added Belkhov. She did have a point.

"Anyway," said Her Glory indignantly, "They're here now, no questions asked. We'll cross the next bridge when it comes. It's something the Humans need to be present to discuss. However, as I'm sure you're aware, finding how to go about the late Emperor's death is our priority at this point."

There were a few murmurs in agreement.

"We've already found the culprit, haven't we? The girl we have in questioning," said Belkhov.

"How can we be sure it's her? We have no evidence as of yet-" A man was cut off by the woman again.

"Then we keep up the interrogation until she cracks. Simple."

For a woman so passionate about the safety of the Humans, she seems not to be overly caring about people of her own race. Typical of an inter-planetary councillor, Cesra thought.

"What if she doesn't? How did we pick out the girl anyway?"

"Prior to this event, she's drawn attention to herself in many unfavourable ways. She led many welfare protests and such. A real troublemaker. Actually, we were suspecting her husband for a while too, but he's dead now," she continued with a wave of her hand.

The Empress blinked a few times. One could see she wasn't familiar with such situations.

"So we don't have any other suspects at all? Not the servants in the room at the time, not any political rivals, not.. I don't know!"

"Servants are watched. They have no privacy as it is, meaning they wouldn't have the time to themselves to carry out such a scheme," pointed out Belkhov.

"A political rival could've been behind it, now that I think about it," pondered Cesra.

"We can't run an arrest based on an idea, High Commander," retorted Belkhov.

"So how did they imprison this one?"

"Well.. She was technically arrested for her acts of rebellion in the past. Since she

happened to be a suspect for the assassination, they-"

"Oh, please. Why are you so vocal about this anyway?"

"Belkhov, you're in charge of the Humans, not the crime, that'd be the High Councillor for Law and Order's place, a.k.a. my job," piped up another High Councillor, standing up.

Belkhov crossed her arms indignantly.

"So I'm not allowed to have an opinion?"

Yamra waved her arms around to get the table's attention.

"Everyone! What we're discussing is, indeed, the job of the Law and Order High Councillor, and the Forensic Service. What we're here to discuss is how we go about what has already happened. Memorial details. An official public statement. Does anyone have any unbiased ideas on how to do just that?"

Silence.

After the meeting had finished, Belkhov did not waste time in leaving as soon as she could. Cesra closely followed her, and caught her outside the hall before she took off.

"High Councillor Belkhov,"

"Nael, if you want," supplied Belkhov.

"I don't think I've seen you around before. You new?"

Nael furrowed her brow. She would usually take this as a patronising insult, however she looked like she meant it. Besides, with her job, one had to be a little diplomatic.

"No, I just don't usually get the chance to voice my opinions, so I'm making the most of it. There aren't usually many inter-planetary affairs to take care of, see."

Cesra nodded.

"I'm Cesra, by the way."

"Cesra. A nice name. Pleased to meet you," said Nael as she shook her hand.

"I saw we disagreed a little in there today, but I think we have basically the same ideas about the Human Visitors. I don't think Her Glory has much of an idea what she's talking about, to be honest."

"Oh, I agree. Yamra could have a good idea of what's going on in time, however at the moment, I couldn't say the same thing.."

"Is Yamra her name?"

"Yes. She likes to be called Yamra."

It didn't quite fit to call her Empress just yet, she was right. Yamra seemed more fitting.

"We do need to find out a way to accommodate the Humans, and find that technology before it's too late though," said Nael earnestly.

"If we can find it at all, in which case we should send them out of here before they find themselves in any trouble. It'd be all on both of our heads," corrected Cesra.

They seemed to be agreeing on this matter, at least. This was something.

"Have you had the chance to speak to any of them yet?" asked Nael.

"I talked to Jack O'Neill, the leader, for some time last night. I also spoke briefly to the female, and the Jaffa. Teal'c, was it?"

"I talked to Jackson for a time. The archaeologist. They seem to be rather friendly."

"Friendly, but not harmless."

"No, not harmless. That's probably the reason Earth has not been overrun by the Goa'uld yet," added Cesra.

"Well, I'm meeting someone for lunch, and I'm starved. See you at another time, Cesra."

Cesra waved to the blonde, who was now checking her watch and running as best as she could in heels toward the Memorial Gardens.


	4. Persuasion

"So how did the rest of the meeting go?" asked the female visitor, who Cesra had learnt was called Samantha Carter. After talking for a while, she realised they had much more in common than she imagined. Depending on how long the visitors would remain on Aelte, they could turn out to be good friends.

"Lots of arguments. Nael, the Inter-planetary Affairs Councillor-"

"The blonde that talked a lot?"

"-That's her. She argued a lot after that, and abused the acting Empress. It got a little messy, but she was mainly concerned about your safety. She is not sure how easy it will be to retrieve the stored technology. The truth is, we have no idea how long it may take to find it. Don't feel at all obliged to stay and look for it. In fact, we recommend you keep yourselves and your planet safe in the meantime by returning to Earth until we find the technology."

"What about when you said we could help you?"

"Don't pay attention to that. We're perfectly capable of-"

"You realise taking risks like these is our job. I still need to talk to the others, but they seemed to be all for searching for the lost technology after we left the meeting..."

"You need to think of your planet. What may the Goa'uld do while you are gone?"

"Y'know, Cesra, it kind-of is our job to explore and go to different planets. They can make do without us."

Cesra shook her head in resignation.

"I don't know. You could talk to Nael when you see her. You are her responsibility. Or Her Glory, she could help you out too.."

"Okay. We'll do that," smiled Sam, "Good luck in dealing with the issue of Emperor Lex. Our sympathies."

Cesra nodded, and sipped her drink.

"Anything we could do to help with that?"

"Not exactly. It's rather a messy issue."

Daniel took a seat at a table for two. Nael sat opposite.

"For the millionth time, we won't leave you to find the technology alone. After we left the meeting, we all agreed-"

"Think of your own safety! Do one thing without knowing to attract the attention to the public, and you're a target.

"Target for what?"

"Do you think Emperor Lex dropped dead of heart attack? Someone's responsible for this, and they won't like anyone shaking up the ordinary. It's bad enough our planet is in this situation in the first place. None of us want to put you in such serious danger. Do you understand?"

"What about the Empress?"

"She'll only consider your best interests, not life or death. She's new at this."

"Okay, so what if _we_ want to look for it? Does that count for anything?"

Nael sighed. He clearly did not understand what she was saying.

"Not unless you enjoy years of tedious searching."

"Who said it would take years? Wasn't it you that said we didn't know?"

"Yes Daniel, but-"

"Think about it. We have not given your planet anything in return for borrowing this technology. We should earn it."

"Oh, I see what you're getting at. Now you've brought that up, I think.."

"Yes?" said the archaeologist eagerly. Nael was in a state of pondering, head on her hand.

"No. That's what I think."

"Oh, come on!"

"Oh, I'm so going to regret saying this, but I'll talk to my superiors. That's all I can do."

Daniel smiled widely. Nael raised an eyebrow.

"You know, O'Neill could've just went and asked Her Glory straight-up."

"He is. You're the backup, in case she says no," supplied Jackson, grinning.

"You want this bad, don't you?"

"Earth needs this technology, Nael. We believe in earning our rewards."

"Well, it's a pleasure doing business with you," said Nael. Their eyes locked for a second, and then Daniel looked away.

"So, is this like pasta?"

"Oh, it's you! Take a seat, Jack O'Neill." Yamra jumped up from the throne which was build far up from the ground, and descended the small stairs at the side. She plonked onto one of the luxurious lounges situated around the room.

"You don't have to get up from your throne or anything.."

"Oh, it's alright, I'm actually afraid of heights," giggled Yamra.

She lowered her tone to a whisper.

'I like to do all the things my relative did, Emperor Lex. Even if I'm not here forever, I want to seem like a proper Empress. I want the public to think I'm capable, you know?"

"No need to whisper, Yamra, it's just us."

"What? Where'd the guards go?"

"I told them to go away."

"You can't do that!"

"I'm very persuasive."

Yamra rolled her eyes.

"That's what I came to see you about, actually. See, we know the pressure all the events recently must put on your shoulders. This is why we've decided we're helping you with finding the lost technology."

"You decided?"

"Well.."

Jack hesitated, but then there was a noise from outside the room. The doors opened.

"You first," whispered a female voice.

Two women Jack recognised from the Receiving Ritual and Meeting walked past him and the Empress, and toward the throne.

"Your Glory, the visitors would like to join us in-" The red-headed woman broke off, and swivelled around to see the two on the visitor couches. Nael looked to the throne, then turned on her heel to see Yamra, then shifted her gaze to Jack.

"Well. There you are."

"Hello Nael, Cesra. You've met Jack O'Neill?"

"I know why you're here," laughed Jack nervously, "I, uh, my friends talked to you, didn't they?"

"Yes, they did."

"Oh? You've got yourself a little team now?" enquired Yamra, one eyebrow raised.

"I suppose I do," said Jack bluntly.

Nael stepped forward slowly, to cut the tension between Jack and Yamra.

"I iam/i the High Councillor for Interplanetary affairs, you realise. This whole thing should be my decision, and I say yes."

"By law, you need imy/i okay," retorted Yamra.

"Okay," replied Cesra, "Well.. will you let them come with us?"

Yamra looked from Jack to Cesra and Nael, then back to Jack.

"Yes. They are allowed. The more people we have searching, the better."

"... Just like that?" asked Nael, dazed.

"Why not? I've made my decision," said Yamra plainly.

"You don't... heartily disagree with us or anything?" tried Cesra.

"Hey, do you want them to come or not? As long as you promise to take full responsibility-"

"I promise," said Nael sincerely.

"I don't want to hear any complaining-"

"We won't!"

Jack was standing in the middle of this, a little put out.

"You make me sound like a pet."


	5. The List

It was a freezing morning. Ice fell in splinters from the sky, Ice splinters that hurt your head if you weren't careful, which the humans soon found out. The sky was white with heavy cloud, and thick mist was everywhere. The common square was tinted with silver, frost clinging to every surface. It was a freezing, but beautiful morning.

This was also the morning which Empress Yamra would release the official list of people on the search for Lex's hidden technology. Well, it would be no surprise who would be attending the search. As Nael examined the list, she went through the names.

iEarth SG-1 Team: Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, Teal'c.

Her Glory, Empress Yamra.

Officials: Nael Belkhov-Interplanetary Affairs High Councillor, Commanding Agent Cesra Milcant- Leader of Defence, Kilren Shaft- Law and Order High Councillor, Technology Advancement High Councillor.

Other Explorers: Commander Bane Relsh- Second in Command of Defence, Kéan Palt- Protector of Throne, Arlen Masak- Map-keeper and Navigator./i

Nael's mind froze after she read the last name on the list. Arlen Masak. The murderer. The assassin. The one who killed our Emperor is helping us retrieve the technology that, thanks to her, is lost? This couldn't be right. This woman is a murderer. Nael would not have that. Neither would anyone else.

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"The jewels. Am I taking the jewels?" Yamra pondered over her gemstone jewellry in the throne chamber, as an imperial guard stood rigidly beside the throne.

"Sorry Your Glory, it's too much of a risk. They are in much safer hands in the palace."

"Oh. Well, there's nothing like security regulations as a fashion guide. Thanks anyway..." Yamra trailed off, not knowing the guard's name.

"Raketh."

"Raketh. Thanks, Raketh. I'm sure you'll have them ready upon my return."

"Anything you say, Your Glory."

Yamra smiled. It was a shame she didn't get to know all of the guards on first name basis, but there were too many of them to possibly remember.

br

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Nael didn't bother announcing herself. She strode into the throne chamber, to a startled

Yamra.

"Belkhov! You know, the announcement system is there for a reason, it's so I don't have a heart attack one of these days by these unannounced arrivals. There's a murderer on the loose, we royals are at risk.." She stopped speaking when she realised Nael was impatiently tapping her foot, clearly not listening.

"Your Glory, has it come to your attention that the murderer in question is on the list for the search?"

"Oh, yes, Masak. She's an excellent navigator, and keeps most of the maps we've restricted from the public. She'll be vital."

"Yamra. She killed the-"

"Now, none of that," warned Yamra sternly, folding her arms, "Her trial is being put on hold until after the technology has been found. Kilren Shaft signed the agreement yesterday."

"What?" she spluttered, "You're missing the point! You don't just go freeing murderers just because-"

"Enough, Belkhov! We have no concrete proof that she was responsible for the murder. She is as deserving of a place in the search team as you are."

Nael stood speechless, gaping in disbelief. She could not find words.

"I hope you'll be perfectly civil to her on the search. We must work as a team if we are to find the technology."

Nael didn't say another word. She turned, and walked out of the room.

br

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Kilren Shaft and Cesra Milcant were also rather surprised to see the name of the convicted assassin on the list.

"Do you think there's been some sort of mistake?" enquired Cesra.

"No, I postponed the trial myself. In my opinion, there is no real evidence we can put against her at this moment in time, and besides, she will be invaluable with her map-keeping and navigational skills."

"Oh. Well, now you put it that way... I still think it's a little rushed. But if it means finding Lex's technology, perhaps it is the right thing."

Many other responses were similar to the three. Some were outraged, some were dismissive, some were concerned. In the end, however, it was Yamra's final say, and her word was yes.

The Stargate team were already packed with what they came to the planet with, and were ready for the search. Cesra and her second-in-command were discussing defence strategies in case of attack, the Throne Protector was drilling Yamra through concealment techniques for her safety, Kilren Shaft was packing, and so was Nael.

Belkhov was still cooling off from her confrontation with the Empress, muttering under her breath.

"Perfectly civil.. I'll show her perfectly civil.."

It seemed petty, even to Nael, but it was more than that. She believed everyone was out of their minds for even giving this murderer a chance. Especially working so close to the Empress. There wan't much she could do, as Yamra had the power, and it was Councillor Shaft's responsibility. She, however, was still allowed to vent and complain. She exercised this right when someone from the Earth Stargate Team paid her a visit to discuss search details.

"Hello, Daniel," Nael said wearily, opening her door.

"Have you got the warrants ready?"

"Warrants?" she asked confusedly. Was this Earth terminology?

"Oh, excuse me. Permission to search premises for the technology without being arrested," he clarified. Earth terminology.

"Yes, then. I do indeed have the.. warrants you speak of. Come in," Nael gestured inside her place of residence. It was rather luxurious, but only a few rooms. One of the cons of being on the High Council is that one must live on the premises. It was, however, a comfortable life.

The archaeologist took a seat, and examined the documents handed to him.

"I heard about your.. reaction to the convicted assassin being included in the search team."

"Finally, someone's calling her 'convicted assassin' instead of 'navigator'. They're out of their minds."

"You are still coming on the search, aren't you?" He seemed anxious, as he posed the question.

"Well, yes," she replied. _Someone's got to keep an eye on her_, she thought.

Daniel seemed relieved.

"If you are an archaeologist, shouldn't your leader, Colonel Jack O'Neill be taking care of matters like this?" Nael enquired, as Daniel looked away.

"He's been pretty busy. I volunteered to pay this visit in his place. Back on the topic of Arlen Masak, we are also concerned for the safety of all of us. However, considering the precautions we will be taking, I can assure that probably nothing will happen to you, or the Empress, or anyone."

"Probably nothing. Very reassuring," muttered Nael, who softened to see his reaction to her sarcasm.

"It's nice to see your concern, Daniel," said Nael, realising what he was saying was to make her more comfortable, "thanks for being so understanding, I know I mustn't be the easiest person to get along with in times like these."

"It's been a pleasure," Daniel smiled. There was a silence between them, as both of them searched frantically in their minds for something to talk about.

"Uh. I need the warrants now."

"I handed them to you as soon as you came in," said Nael, smiling and feeling like an adolescent. He looked down at the documents in his hands, and went a shade of red.

"Oh, right. Well, I'll be off. Goodbye, Nael."

She smiled to herself after he had left, and shortly resumed packing, in a brighter mood.


End file.
